NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- LifeSci Advisors, an investor relations and corporate communications firm focused on the life sciences sector, today announces the 12th appointment of a female executive to a life sciences company board as part of its Board Placement Initiative (BPI). LifeSci Advisors launched BPI in the summer of 2016 with the goal of connecting female executives in the life sciences industry with companies looking for board candidates.

LifeSci is pleased to share that Dr. Carol L. Brosgart has joined the Board of Directors of ABIVAX, a biotechnology company harnessing the immune system to develop a functional cure for HIV and treatments for inflammatory/autoimmune diseases and cancer. Dr. Brosgart is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Institute for Global Health, Department of Medicine, University of California in San Francisco, CA.

“I am pleased to join the board of ABIVAX and help this progressive company continue to advance their clinical pipeline forward,” said Dr. Brosgart. “I look forward to contributing to the strategic and clinical development oversight of the company, and I am thankful to LifeSci for facilitating this placement.”

Dr. Brosgart has served as an independent director on the Boards of both public and privately-held biotechnology companies, as a member of the Federal US CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis, and STD Prevention and Treatment, and was the Senior Advisor on Science and Policy to the Division of Viral Hepatitis at the CDC. She has held numerous senior management positions within biotechnology and health care. Dr. Brosgart was the Chief Medical Officer for Alios BioPharma (now Johnson & Johnson), a biotech company developing therapies to treat viral diseases. Dr. Brosgart joined Alios from Children’s Hospital & Research Center in Oakland, California, where she served as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer. For eleven years Dr. Brosgart held a number of senior management positions at Gilead Sciences. While Vice President of Clinical Research at Gilead she was responsible for the clinical development and approval by the FDA and by regulatory authorities worldwide of two antiviral therapies – Viread® for the treatment of HIV, and Hepsera® for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.

Prior to Gilead, Dr. Brosgart worked for more than 20 years in public health, clinical care, research, and teaching. She was among the first physicians in the United States to recognize and treat patients with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Brosgart was the founding Medical Director of the East Bay AIDS Center. She led NIH clinical trials as a member of the Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA), chaired the CPCRA Scientific Advisory Committee, and contributed to HIV antiretroviral drug development, and to the development of prophylactic and treatment agents for opportunistic and malignant complications of HIV. Dr. Brosgart received her B.S. in community medicine from the University of California, Berkeley (UCB), her M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and her residency training in Pediatrics (UCSF) and Public Health and Preventive Medicine (UCB). She has published extensively in the areas of infectious diseases, focusing on antiviral therapy for HIV, HBV, CMV and related public health policy.

“We are confident that Carol’s insights and experience will be a huge asset to ABIVAX as they continue to develop their clinical programs,” said Michael Rice, President and Co-Founder, LifeSci Advisors. “We’re very happy to have made the introduction and look forward to announcing more successful appointments through our Board Placement Initiative in the near future.”

“We are thrilled that Carol is bringing her expertise and deep industry knowledge to our board,” said Dr. Hartmut J. Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer, ABIVAX. “Her vast wealth of experience and passion for treating patients with HIV/AIDS will be invaluable to the company’s clinical strategy, and we are pleased to have found Dr. Brosgart through LifeSci’s Board Placement Initiative.”

LifeSci Advisors’ Board Placement Initiative (BPI) was launched with the goal of helping companies in the life sciences industry diversify and strengthen their company boards. Introductions between companies and eligible board candidates are made after LifeSci has met with a company’s management team or Board regarding the skills and expertise they are seeking in a candidate, and after the LifeSci team has properly vetted the board candidates. BPI now has helped to place 12 women on corporate boards and is looking to continue this success. With a proprietary network comprised of board-ready women, LifeSci Advisors hopes that BPI can become a valuable platform where both female executives and life sciences companies are able to network and to grow.

LifeSci Advisors, LLC (www.lifesciadvisors.com) is the largest investor relations consultancy in the life sciences industry, founded to provide companies with a multi-faceted approach to investor communications and outreach. With a global focus and reach, the firm provides the highest quality service for its clients through its deep sector specialization. LifeSci’s team of MDs and PhDs enables the firm to better understand clients' R&D, regulatory and commercial strategies, and its team of financial services, investor relations and public relations specialists helps clients effectively communicate to the marketplace. This combination of life sciences, financial services, and investor relations competencies allows LifeSci Advisors to provide an invaluable and unique service offering to clients. LifeSci Partners (www.lifescipartners.com) is the leading provider of consulting services in the areas of investor relations, public relations, corporate communications and capital markets advisory. Combining deep domain expertise in the life sciences with decades of experience in capital markets and public relations, LifeSci Partners delivers unparalleled services to life sciences companies globally.

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